I was disappointed to see Stephanie Miner's comment that the unions will have to learn from the Detroit bankruptcy decision!

Once again the unions and working people are under attack! If you really delve into the causes of Detroit's bankruptcy you'll see that due to closed factories and other employers, and the subsequent large numbers of people moving away, the tax revenue of the city dropped by 77 percent in just a few years. As a result the city leaders decided to raise taxes resulting in more people leaving and thus more loss of tax revenue.

Then the new Republican governor and legislature dropped their revenue sharing by 48 percent because of decreased population. And with much less income they resorted to borrowing.

Economists who have looked into the matter have said that union pensions in Detroit, were less than comparable pensions in other cities within the same state and definitely less than other states amounting to about $19,000 a year!

Of course the current political climate is to blame workers and unions for everything and there is a concerted effort to break unions everywhere. Sorry Mayor MIner jumped on that bandwagon.

It's exactly 100 years since the start of the worker's movement and we're starting all over again! It's shameful that workers who have already retired, after contributing to their own pensions through reduced pay (yes it is not entirely a state "giveaway") are now going to be receiving much less monthly which will, of course, cause an increase in the need for food stamps and other government subsidies to survive and will then cause more uproar among conservatives!

Where is this outrage when CEO's get millions of dollars in retirement settlements and bonuses. Oh that's right they "worked" for it!

Robert Steingraber
Syracuse

One solution to Syracuse's woes: Stop PILOTS
To the Editor;

After reading Mayor Stephanie Miner's discussion of the high costs of public pensions and health care, I came up with an easy solution to the problem: the city should use eminent domain and seize the PILOT agreements. By nullifying just Destiny's PILOT, the city would immediately raise its property tax revenue by approximately $20 million per year. This would allow the city to fund the pensions and health benefits for their hard working employees and the schools as well.

The public employees and teachers would then have money to spend at local businesses. Research indicates that expenditures from public pensions support 137,000 jobs in New York staste and stimulate $24 billion per year in economic output.

Every $1 in benefits paid supports $1.41 in economic activity. This translates into $4 billion per year in tax revenue for local governments. By eliminating the PILOTS, we would eliminate the excessive, guaranteed profits going to the owners of Pyramid Corporation which they use to subsidize elaborate French chateaus like the one that was just completed off of Route 92.

Mayor Miner should commit herself to ending the crony capitalism that is draining the city of vital tax revenue. These taxes are the key to maintaining our democracy for as Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "Taxes are the price of civilization."

Mark McGuigan
East Syracuse

Hold on: Pensions changes aren't automatic
To the Editor:

I think the title of your article, "Government Pensions are No Longer Untouchable", regarding the recent opinion by Detroit federal municipal bankruptcy judge Rhodes, is premature.

Federal laws may impair contracts, but a federal municipal bankruptcy judge serves only to oversee procedures and is not authorized to impair contracts or force liquidations. And since the Michigan Constitution explicitly prohibits the impairment of pension rights, Detroit may not do so. Nor can Detroit be forced to liquidate any assets to raise money to pay creditors, though it may if it chooses to. Detroit's Museum of Art is safe unless Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr chooses to serve the interests of creditors over city residents.

New York state law prohibits the impairment of state pension rights. So, if Syracuse were to enter into Chapter 9 Bankruptcy, municipal pensions would not be at risk.

I suspect Judge Rhodes' opinion on pensions is designed to fan the flames of attacking state pensions and to serve the interests of business creditors who might suffer fewer losses if pensions were added to the chopping block.